A Feary Tale
by Picaro
Summary: [SxR, MxS]Ryou´s the big bad vampire, Seto´s the chosen victim that doesn´t dream of holding to te rules of horror stories and - what more could go wrong? Very much when the cat-demon Malik is taking interest in the unusual brunette as well.
1. Ryou: Vampire A Little Bit Different

Hello again! Picaro speaking ^___^ I´m onca again starting a fic despite my better knowledge, knowing that this is just too insane. I ended up doing it anyway, though. Actually, I didn´t want to start posting this until I´d at least finished chapter three of it, but, well, chapter three´s half past finished and I´m simply too curious how people´ll react. ^_~ 

Things you should know: First, the rating isn´t quite right. This story is **horror/humor/romance/fantasy** story with a bit of adventure added to spice things up. Next thing is that this´s a **Seto/Ryou** story. And third? Third´s that this story is loosely (very loosely! Extremely very loosely!) based of the old german fairy tale *´The youth who could not shiver and shake´* from Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. And a great thanks to my wonderful beta R-sama for helping me out with the grammar and formatting!

That´s all, I guess!

#1: Vampire a little bit different# 

Ryou crouched low, never letting his chosen prey out of his sight. The other boy was blessedly oblivious to his close presence. 

Ryou licked his lips. Suddenly they seemed to have become very dry. The lick didn't help. If anything, it only helped making the lust for the hunt grow. The pale haired boy could barely keep it in any longer. Hastily crawling closer, he eyed his chosen prey hungrily.

It was a tall one, sinewy and thin, yet he was carrying himself with an regal air that showed that he feared no one. His hair was short and dark brownish, though the darkness of the night made it difficult to distinguish the actual colour. The movements of the other reminded Ryou of a tiger. The most dangerous creature around and very well knowing it. 

Ryou licked his lips again.

The brunette had wandered a bit ahead and was now looking at something on the ground that had apparently caught his interest. When he crouched down to get a better look at it, Ryou knew that it was his time to pounce.

´Now!´

With a shrill cry he propelled himself forward towards his unsuspecting prey- and cried out in pain when he was hit squarely in the face. With a pained yelp, the pale-haired boy went down. 

"Oww…!!"

Towering over the fallen boy, the victim-turned-predator let out a dry, malicious chuckle. 

"Fool. Did you really think I didn't hear you?" The other made a disdainful noise in the back of his throat. "You made more noise than a whole stampede of bulls together." 

Bending down, he easily picked up the shorter boy by his collar and lifted him up into the air. Ryou gasped lightly at the rough treatment, feet dangling a half feet over the ground. But what was far worse was the blood that was slowly collecting in his mouth, _his_ blood. 

Gulping down a little of the bitter liquid, Ryou quenched his eyes open enough to meet a set of angry, blazing sapphires. He gulped again, intimidated. None the less, he forced himself to speak.

"I-ie! No. Please! Let me down. P-Please let me down..."

"Hm?" 

The brunette frowned at the broken whimper, but compiled, dropping Ryou roughly on the ground. As soon as he hit the ground, the pale boy clasped both hands in front of his mouth, looking terrified. Slowly pulling them away, he held out a piece of something shiny and pearly white. The other frowned.

"You… You broke it! Gods, you broke my tooth!!" 

The blue-eyed one frowned. 

"Eh?" 

Ryou shot him a mortified look. 

"My fang! You broke my fang!!" 

By now, the animosity on the brunette's face had changed completely to a look of surprise. 

"You're a vampire…"

"And you broke my fang!"

Ryou waved the broken piece of tooth in front of his face, barely avoiding poking him in the nose with it. The brunette rose a slim eyebrow. 

"... Sorry?"

Unfortunately, that only caused Ryou to flip even more. 

"Sorry?! Do you  know what you've done?! My fang! My precious-!! Do you even know what you've done?! How am I supposed to feed like that…" 

Giving the raving vampire a flat look, the stranger stepped back, waiting for Ryou to finally calm down. Which was going to be a long wait.

"…and besides that, how- Doesn't it smell burnt here?"  

Blue ice-chips blinked, confused at the sudden change of topic. 

"Burnt…?" 

Ryou sniffed again. 

"Yes. Definitely burnt. Like… old leather or such?" 

This earned him another blank look, but the former victim also turned around and began sniffing for the said smell. Ryou couldn't understand that he hadn't noticed it until now. It was directly there and –Uwaugh! The pale boy stumbled back as a fresh wave of air smacked the vile stench right into his face. His fine senses immediately redefined what it was.

"That- that _is_ burnt flesh! Human flesh!!"

"Humans…?" The other gave the other (most possibly crazy) boy a stern look. "That's impossible. We're the only humans here. . ." 

A look of realisation crossed his face. 

"Damn!!"

And with that, he dashed away, leaving poor, confused Ryou all alone to himself. Ryou blinked. That was not the way it was supposed to go. That was _definitely_ not the way it was supposed to go… And he was currently poking himself in the finger with the end of his broken fang.

"OI!! Whoever you are, wait-!"

He ran after the brunette.

**# - Chapter 2#**

^^; Well, that´s it. Guess by now you all must´ve noticed that this won´t be going to be our usual vampire/gothic/horror/fantasy story. Oh, and it´s AU! But you already nitced that as well, right…? 

Disclaimer: If some crazy person named Picaro would own Yugioh, believe me, you´d have noticed…


	2. Seto And The Seven Hanged Men

Disclaimer: Nope, still don´t own Yugioh aside from the idea of this story…

Thanks a lot for the reviews! I´m glad you liked the first chapter and hope you will like this one as well.

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_….. Then the young man went and seated himself under the gallows and waited till the evening, and feeling cold he lighted a fire; but at midnight the wind rose and blew so fiercely and chill, that even a large fire could not warm him. The high cold wind made the bodies of the murderers swing to and fro, and he thought to himself, if I am so cold down here by the fire, they must be frozen up there;… …he climbed up, untied the ropes and brought down all the seven bodies, stirred the fire into a blaze, and seated them round it so close, that their clothes caught fire. ……_

**---------------------------------------------------**

**#2: Seto And The Seven Hanged Men#**

When they arrived at the camp, there was smoke everywhere. His ´mutilator´ had arrived shortly before him and was now busily trying to stomp out the fire while suffocating smoke clustered the air. Choking, Ryou held his sleeve in front of his mouth and nose. He was trying to see what was going on, but the thick smoke got into his eyes and made it almost impossible to make out anything of use.

Somewhere off to the side, he could hear the other curse in a colourful language and at the corner of his vision he thought he'd seen some remotely human figures. One of them seemed to burn. Ryou sincerely hoped he was wrong.

A few minutes later the fire had been put out and Ryou could see again. Yet he seriously hoped that the smoke was only playing a trick on his senses. The brunette was surely not kicking a man lying on the ground, stomping out the last sparks and probably hurting the other person badly in the process.

crack

"Damnit, stupid pants-!"

The other had accidentally stepped onto the unconscious one's arm, breaking it in the process and causing the white-haired boy to wince. When the mysterious stranger finally seemed to be satisfied with his ...rather rough method of stopping the fire from spreading any further, he finally turned to the baffled youth. Ice-cold, blue eyes sparkled at him.

"What are you doing here?"

The ruff question tore Ryou out of his shock-induced daze. After all, one didn't get to meet a guy who knocks an attacking vampire a fang out and smothers fires by stomping into them like the heat was nothing, everyday. The vampire blinked.

"Eh?" Realizing what a stupid answer that had to be, he quickly stuttered out. "I-I followed you because I thought that maybe you might need my help. You, or the... other people who are here."

He glanced meekly at the human shapes that were surrounding the fire in some distances. None of them were moving. Ryou felt his heart drop. Now that the smoke had cleared, he could make out that there were, altogether, seven human shapes (including the one the other was standing over – he hadn't bothered to step off of his arm yet) surrounding the campfire that had caused the fire. The other one's eyes were calmly following his gaze, not showing any hint of emotions the whole time.

"They're all dead."

Somehow, the pale vampire felt sorry for him. Sure, a few minutes ago he'd wanted to suck his blood out of the jerk that had broken his wonderful fang, but still – coming back, just to find all of your travel companions, and probably friends, dead had to be hard. In an afterthought he added.

"I´m sorry."

Not understanding, blue eyes turned to him.

"Of course they are."

Ryou blinked, caught off guard by the unemotional tone he'd said this with. As if he hadn't cared about them at all.

"But- aren't these your friends?"

"Friends?"

The other let out a laugh. Hard and chilly. Ryou suppressed the urge to shudder. He was the vampire here. It was _he_ who was supposed the strike fear in the other's heart, not the other way around. Though somehow, he had problems with realising that part. That guy was scary! The person in question was watching him with a cold look.

"I'd hardly call them that."

Ryou shuddered. There was no remorse in that voice, just a cold, sarcastic amusement. Seeing his distress, the other stepped closer until just a few inches were between them. Looming menacingly over the paler boy, he purred. "I didn't frighten you, did I?"

Tugging on his panicking nerves, the pale boy forced himself to meet the blue eyes calmly.

"Of course not."

Sadly, his words didn't sound half as confident as Ryou would have wished them to be. The other one smirked.

"Good."

Still wearing that unnerving smirk he went over to the lifeless body and kicked it so that it rolled over. Ryou gasped.

"It would be rather difficult to befriend somebody who's been dead for the last two days at least." The smirk turned into a smile that was not compellingly friendly. "At least, in my humble opinion. _You_ can make friends with whomever you want."

The words were spoken with a sadistic humour that would usually have shocked Ryou, if he hadn't been too busy staring at the corpses. And corpses they were. All seven of them, he realised. It was visible between the shabby rags, and the skin was unhealthily off-white, and dark patches that were once bruises had formed. The eyes were wide, unseeing and swelling out of their sockets in a way that made Ryou feel sick. A thick rope was wound around each of their necks, telling the white-haired boy that they had been hanged. Probably for some bad deed or another. The population of this particular part of the region was rather famous for dealing with riffraff quickly.

Ryou gulped.

"Did you…?"

The other shot him an amused look.

"I took them down and set them up around the fire." Seeing Ryou's disbelieving look, he chuckled lightly. "What? I was feeling lonely."

Ryou rose an eyebrow.

"So you took all that rotten corpses and sat them up around your fire?" He didn't even try to hide the disbelief in his voice. The other mimicked his move.

"Yes."

Ryou frowned.

"You're crazy."

This caused the other one to actually laugh. This time it was more friendly.

"Why? Because I got myself a couple of dead guys as company?" He prodded the next corpse with the tip of his shoe. "These guys are a lot less dangerous than the living things I've met since I was here." With a grin, he added. "At least they didn't try to jump and bite me when I cut them from their tree like somebody else I've met."

Ryou choose to ignore the last sentence in favour of giving him a doubtful glance.

"Aren't you afraid at all?"

Again that slightly amused look.

"No."

Ryou shook his head, speechless. And here he thought that the way he'd reacted to him had been unusual. A guy who was sharing a picnic with seven hanged men in the middle of the night and not seeing anything disconcerting in it definitely was something special.

"What's your name?"

Ryou's head jerked up. "Huh?"

The other rolled his eyes. "I asked you for your name, white-head. Or would you prefer it if I'd just call you 'One-fang'?"

"No!"

The youth smirked at his outburst. Ryou fought the urge to sigh inwardly and blush. He wasn't a very good vampire.

"I´m Bakura Ryou."

The other nodded. "Ryou."

Now it was on Ryou to shoot him an indignant glare (which was amazingly unimpressive). Or maybe not. That guy was slowly beginning to give him the creeps.

"What's yours?"

The blue-eyed teen looked up from where he'd been inspecting the body, which had caught fire. Giving Ryou a short glance, he answered.

"Kaiba Seto."

With that he turned back to the corpse again. Ryou twitched. That guy was far too professional in handling the supernatural for his liking. He decided to stay on guard.

"So... What are you making here outside at such a late time?" This question earned him an amused look. "Aside from putting fires out that have caught some hanged men's clothes?"

Seto shrugged.

"Not much. I was on my way to somewhere. It seems like I miscalculated the length of my way a bit, though, and since there's no inn around here, I decided to put up a camp."

The white-haired boy gave him a curious look.

"You were heading somewhere you say? Where?"

The brunette gave him a blank stare that made the vampire nervous. Forcing himself to smile sweetly, he continued.

"Maybe I can show you a shortcut. I've been hanging around this area for some while, ever since left I left Bllood."

"Blood?"

The mistake caused Ryou to grin lightly. "Bllood. My hometown."

Seto blinked. "Oh. I'm from Domino, more in the west."

This caught Ryou's attention. By now, the vampire was pretty sure that this Kaiba Seto was no hunter. If he were, he'd have had plenty of opportunities to place a stake in the young vampire's heart, which he didn't. Also, Domino was a rather big city and most of its citizens were quite rich. The brunette next to him made the impression to be well off, so that lead to the question what he was making so far away from home.

Seeing the unvoiced question in the albino's eyes, Seto laughed quietly. The sound was something that made Ryou shiver, silky and low. Listening to it for a long time must have had the same effect as staying too long in ice-cold water did. Sooner or later one would simply surrender and let Seto do whatever he wished.

"You're wondering why I have left Domino."

Ryou's eyes snapped open. "Huh?"

The statement efficiently had caught him out of his daydreaming and once again gave him an excellent chance to prove his own idiocy again. The sparkle in Seto's blue eyes told him that he'd noticed it as well and made the youth suppress the urge to rub his head sheepishly.

"Actually, yes." He admitted.

Seto's eyes sparkled for a moment. Then he shrugged, turning half away from Ryou and towards the slowly dying campfire. Putting some smaller branches into it, he said.

"There's not much to tell. I've always had ...some differences with the rest of my family and a few weeks ago these... conflicts, escalated." He looked up, giving Ryou an unreadable look through the flames. "I left Domino and since then I'm travelling around."

Ryou nodded, deciding that it would be wise to ignore the question of the nature of those 'conflicts' and instead, turned to the more present one of the other's destination. Why he was so intrigued with Kaiba Seto, he didn't know. Just that he simply was.

"And the place you are going to..."

The dark shadow in the brunette's eyes vanished.

"A job I said I'd do. I have to stay for three days there and see that everything's working the way it should."

Ryou blinked, surprised. "That's all?"

Seto shrugged. "According to them, yes. Though I'm expecting some sort of catch on it, since they had some strange conditions."

"Strange conditions?"

Again, a bemused shrug.

"They insisted for me to name three things I'd like to bring with me for that span of time. Actually, I'd have asked for an interesting companion, since it's been getting rather boring alone lately, but... Humans don't qualify as things. So I choose these instead."

He gestured to a rather bulky bundle that Ryou hadn't noticed until then. The white-haired boy felt his curiosity get the best of him.

"What's in it?"

Seto's eyes glinted.

"Secret."

Seeing the other's disappointed expression, he presented him with a slight smile that made Ryou uneasy.

"But I'll tell you something, Ryou. An offer, actually. Since I'm pretty bored and those guys aren't any good company..." Ryou tilted his head quizzically. What was Seto aiming for? "Why don't you come with me for these three days?"

"Na-Nani?!"

Seto grinned humourlessly. "You heard me. I want you to come with me."

Ryou stared at him with wide eyes. He couldn't be serious!

"But-But I'm a vampire!"

The brunette shrugged. "So?"

"I could bite you!"

"You already tried."

"Yeah! And you broke my fang out…"

Seto smirked. "Exactly."

Ryou didn't find it that amusing at all. Frowning, he made a step forward.

"Wait a minute! You're right, I attacked you. And _you_ broke my fang out! The only one who's been hurt here was me! I don't have to obey you. If it were, then it'd be _you_ who owes _me_…!"

All during the up-worked boy's rant, Seto's expression didn't falter once. "Your point is…?"

Ryou glared at the brunette. For a minimal moment, the colour of his eyes became redder and they were becoming sharper, harder.

"You have no right to order me!"

"Right." Seto's smile was malicious as he spoke these words. "Yet you still will come with me."

Ryou was speechless. "What…?"

Deep blue eyes studied him with a calculating look over the crackling campfire's flames.

"Think about it, Ryou. You are right. You attacked me and I retaliated, hurting you in the process. Yet you still followed me and are still here. Why?"

"……"

Ryou slumped, defeated, to the ground. Seto was right. Under any normal circumstances, he'd have left the other's company a long time ago. But there he was, leading an argument with Seto that was completely pointless. It was already clear that Seto was right. No matter where the damned brunette's destination was, Ryou would be going with him.

Because, as admittedly pathetic for a vampire as it was, Ryou could understand Seto. He was lonely as well.

"Alright. You've won." The pale boy didn't look up from where he was, crouched on the ground. All viciousness had dropped from him, leaving nothing but the air of one defeated behind. "I'll go with you."

Seto smirked. "Fine." Standing up, he put a surprisingly gentle hand on Ryou's shoulder. "Then help me bring those guys back from where I got them and when we come back, we can share my food."

Ryou didn't have a proper return for that, except a meek. "Yes."

Just what the hell had he gotten himself into?

-**Chapter ...3?**


	3. Night One: Two dark, demonic Cats

Disclaimer: I have no rights concerning Yugioh…

**---------------------------------------------------**

_…two very large black cats sprang forward furiously, seated themselves on each side of the fire, and stared at him with wild, fiery eyes. After a while, when the cats became thoroughly warm, they spoke, and said, "Comrade, will you have a game of cards?"….._

**---------------------------------------------------**

**#3: Night One – Two dark, demonic Cats#**

"This is it? This?!"

Ryou was beside himself. Unlike Seto, who was watching the (once again) freaking out vampire with a stoic look.

"Yes."

"… ..!!" Ryou gestured with his hands, unable to put just half of all he wanted to say into words. "Do you even know what this is?!"

Despite his attempt to stay calm, his voice bordered on a shriek. Seto gave him a 'why-would-I-care?' look. Ryou resisted the urge to rip his head off, just to see if there was anything in it.

Mostly because he knew that Seto would high probably kill him in the attempt.

So instead, he tried to recollect what little was left of his badly shaken nerves ever since he met Seto, and silently counted until ten, before giving it a new try getting into the brunette's thick skull.

"Seto, this is the Muramotou Mansion. That house's _cursed_! Nobody's ever stayed a night and survived!"

Seto nodded calmly. "That's what I heard."

Ryou gaped at him. "And you still took the job?!"

Seto shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. "Sure."

Now Ryou really didn´t know what to say anymore.

"…I don´t understand you."

For a moment, Seto's eyes sparkled with amusement.

"Nobody has said that you have to." Noticing the strangely hurt expression in the young vampire's eyes, he more gently added. "I just want you to spent some time with me. If you want to, you can leave the house whenever you want. I won't hold you."

His emotional, chocolate brown eyes still fixed on Seto, Ryou nodded slowly.

"Alright."

"Fine."

With that, Seto started his way to the front door of the large mansion, determined to find a nice room and make himself comfortable before the evening dawned. With a little bit of luck, Ryou would even decide to stay with him.

Although Seto didn´t want to admit it, he'd grown strangely fond of the shy, white-haired vamp in a very short time. In the few hours he'd known Ryou now, it had already caused a part of him to want to make sure that Ryou's overly passive streak wouldn't cause the young albino to get hurt.

Which was a problem.

Seto's possessive protectiveness could lead the usually controlled brunette to undertake some drastic actions that he normally wouldn't do. Drastic, and extremely risky. That was like Seto Kaiba in his protective mood. He'd have to be even more cautious now.

In the end, he chose a spacious room on the first floor, with a large canopy double bed, a window facing the vast garden, and a large cupboard. Just when he was about to stash the objects he'd requested for his stay into it, Ryou entered the room. Noticing what he was doing, his large, expressive doe eyes lightened up immediately.

"Are you now finally going to let me know what we were dragging around the whole time?"

Seto gave him a calculating look. "Curious, aren´t we?"

Ryou pouted. Despite his best attempts to sound cocky and self-assured, Seto immediately saw through the smaller teen's act. Still, that pout had something to it.

So, silently chiding himself for becoming soft, the brunette nodded and gestured for the albino to come closer. Ryou's eyes grew wide as he saw what had been in the bag. First, there was an extra-secure pair of handcuffs, then what looked like a plane set and third there was a… A mallet?!

Ryou felt seriously inclined doubting Seto's sanity at the sight. The handcuffs, he could understand. Too pushy fiends could be bound by them without having to actually kill them. But the mallet?! –And then the plane… Did Seto expect to have that much free time that he was going to be able to carve?

"Why in God's name did you request that things?!"

Seto grinned at the expression on the other's face. Ryou looked like he was seriously doubting Seto's sanity. Well, maybe he had a right to. After all, not many would get the idea to request an anvil with the fitting hammer (Oh, he still had to show that one to Ryou) when preparing for a stay in a haunted house.

On the other side, when had Seto ever been like all the others?

He smirked at the dumbfounded vampire. "I had my reasons, believe me."

Ryou wasn't very reassured with those words. Instead he gave Seto one of those thoughtful 'looks'.

"Oh, really?"

There was more than a little doubt in his voice. Seto flinched inwardly. The pale youth looked like he was already starting to begin to mourn the fact that he'd decided to stay. Finishing putting his stuff away, he turned back to the waiting albino.

"Yes. I've thought them all over. Each one of them has it's use, trust me."

Ryou still looked unsure. Sensing the other's discomfort, Seto stepped over and laid a gentle, but firm hand on his shoulder. Giving the pale youth an imploring look, Seto said softly.

"Ryou. Please."

Ryou fought the urge to flinch away. His shoulder felt strangely hot where Seto's hand touched him, and the calm, yet turmoil dark-blue eyes made him feel uneasy. Actually, Seto as a whole made him feel uneasy. It was like there'd been a charm placed on him. Ever since he'd first met the brunette, he hadn't left his side anymore. He hadn't even considered the thought of going alone!

Bringing himself to meet Seto's eyes, he watched the emotions displayed in them. They were strange, cold and icy-guarded at one side, yet at the other warm, displaying just exactly what the other felt. Currently, they were trying to look unconcerned, while worry and hope fought a silent battle in them. Ryou felt himself stunned by those eyes.

Sighing silently, he finally lowered his head, nodding his agreement.

"I… I believe you. I don't know what to think about this, but I think that I can to trust you."

Looking up, he was rewarded with catching the flicker of heartfelt gratitude in Seto's vibrant eyes. It was just brief, but so true through and through that it managed to quell Ryou's worries like none of Seto's words ever could.

Seto took a long breath. Still standing close to Ryou, he whispered a barely audible, "Arigatou." into his ears. It was so low that the pale boy, even at their closeness, nearly wouldn't have heard it, yet it still made Ryou's heart miss a beat.

Seto was back to unpacking his belongings.

"I guess, I´ll go and find myself a room then."

Ryou was surprised himself at the secure way his words had come out. Seto stopped for a moment from whatever he was doing to look up and give Ryou one of his typical looks. Strangely enough, the young vampire didn't feel them as cold or discomforting anymore. Just typical Seto.

"Do that."

"Un." Ryou nodded, letting himself silently out of the room. Unlike the brunette, he hadn't brought much with him, only what he was wearing on his body and a small knife just in case. Like all of his kind, the albino vampire preferred travelling lightly packed.

------

As it was to be expected, it didn't take for long for Ryou to be finished. Seeing as that Seto still seemed to be either busy or wanting to be for himself, the pale-haired youth settled for making himself comfortable in the giant hall that seemed to serve as the living room, or at least one of them. After lighting a fire in the chimney, Ryou settled down at one of the many plush seats that were assemble and used the opportunity to think his new situation over.

A thing he should've done already a long while ago, if you asked him.

From the very beginning on, Seto's bare presence had caught him by surprise and swept him off his feet (and had constantly kept him there). The vampire shivered lightly, imaging what could've happened if the brunette wouldn't have been so indifferent towards his true nature. Ryou flinched lightly. Ouch. That could have ended painful. Luckily Seto definitely didn't care if his companion was a blood-sucking vampire or not.

Somehow the thought made Ryou feel flattered.

On the other hand, the blue-eyed youth didn't seem to attach great importance to the true nature of anything. Or why else would he have agreed to such a horrid deal? The Muramotou Mansion was the most feard and dreaded haunted house (house, the thing was bigger than the king's castle!) in the whole country. If not the whole continent. Even the citizens of Bllood spoke of the estate with a certain fear in their voices that had the young vampire quickly decide that he'd rather die than risking falling into it's clutches.

Yet here he was, waiting for his uncanny companion to come down and keep him company.

The azure-eyed brunette definitely had to have had a hex placed on him to be so stupid. Sighing, Ryou made himself a little bit more comfortable on his seat, staring into the flames. When had he ever been rational anyway? A vampire who liked watching the sunsets/rises and was allergic to feathers, puh-lease. Not to mention the fact that he got sick at the sight of too much blood at once.

The shortcomings of 'usual' vampiric traits had also been the main reasons for leaving his hometown. The other… How was it said? 'Home is, where your heart is.' But what if you were a creature of the night that wasn't supposed to possess a heart? A still beating one anyway. Did that mean that he wasn't meant to ever find somewhere he felt that he belonged to? Ryou's vibrant, dark-brown eyes turned into a sad frown at that thought. Nonsense! That stupid saying was just as wrong as all those stupid stories told about vampires. A giant load of bull, one more than the other.

It was pure fiction that all vampires were blood-sucking monsters and that sunlight or holy water would burn them. The same with crosses. And garlic? Please. That was simply hilarious. Although that with the stake was right. Who _wouldn´t_ be dead after having a sharpened stake hammered throught their heart?!

And then there still was the flying/bat thing. Ryou sighed to himself again. That was another thing they got true. Although they forgot the mist. Yeah, turning into mist to evade any physical hindrances was very important. Another factor that distinguished Ryou sharply from the rest of the other vampires. While, for others, it was normal to turn into giant bats to fly, Ryou barely managed to sprout a big enough pair of extra wings on his back without collapsing from the pain. About the transformation into mist, he didn't even want to think. Impossible for him to ever dream of. As a vampire, he was a total failure.

Ryou sighed for a third time, loudly. By now he really wished for his blue-eyed companion to come down and help him defeat those depressing thoughts. An uncanny, but tempting, Seto was still better than all those down-pushing thoughts.

Far better.

------

It was later in the evening that found Ryou and Seto both down in the common room, each silently enjoying the other's company. Ryou hadn't talked much to Seto after he'd finally appeared and Seto didn't seem to feel bothered by it. He didn't like loud chattermouths anyway. In the hallway, an old grandfather clocke stroke midnight.

Seconds later, a loud crashing sound cut through the silence, efficiently startling both sleepy youths. Ryou was the first one to react.

"What?" Turning to Seto, he asked. "Seto, did you hear that too?"

The cool-eyed brunette nodded, though he had the urge to roll his eyes.

"Sounded like it came from my room."

"From your room?" Ryou twitched uneasily. Against his will, old tales about what had happened to those who had dared staying over night in the house replayed themselves in his mind. All those tales were based on assumptions only, nobody had ever dared to spend the night at the Muramotou Mansion and lived to tell about it. It had only been conclusions and assumptions that had been made from the damage on the bodies. The pale vampire felt a shiver run down his spine.

**CRASH**

At the noise, Ryou jumped. It had been even louder than the first time and sounded like being caused by something sharp. Seto shot him an amused look.

"Scared?"

Ryou resisted the urge to pout. In fact, mainly because, well, he _was_ scared. A bit. Nonetheless, he shook his head.

"About that little noise?" It sounded astoundingly self-secure.

Seto nodded in appreciation. **CRASH!!** The noised repeated a third time. This time it was loud enough to make the vampire think he saw the pictures shake on the walls. Seto had jumped up from his seat.

"That´s enough!" Shaking his first at nothing in particular, he turned to the stairway that led upwards. "Nobody ruins my room and can think that he comes away with it!"

That said, he turned around and stomped upwards, not caring if his advancing could be heard through the whole house or not.

"……" Ryou stared after him. "……I can´t believe it. ..!"

Didn't that guy think that whatever it was that was being so loud could also be very dangerous? According to the sound, it was something very large partying up there. If it even was just one. There could be two or twenty as well for all they knew. And Seto was just stomping up there not heeding the risk a minimal bit! Ryou shook his head.

"… … Hey, Seto, wait!"

He caught up with the aggravated brunette at the angle of his door. Peeking past him inside, Ryou felt his heart stop. Next to him, Seto growled.

"I can't believe it. Cat hair on my sheets!!"

------

In front of them were two man-sized, demonic cats playing tag on Seto's bed. Ryou felt himself pale. The two animals were huge, at least shoulder-height with him, and the most scaring sight he'd ever seen.

They were both – despite their enormous size – looking like normal house cats, (if the evil one himself would have ever decided to keep himself pets,) and radiating off an aura of sheer evil that made the vampire wish to go and hide in the next closet. They had both big, evil, gleaming eyes and possessed each a set of bone white fangs that were each the size of his fingers.

While one had wild-coloured fur that reminded of dry desert sand and off-colour lavenderish eyes that were empathized by the twin marks running from the corner of it's eyes and over it's cheekbones, the other was raven-black and had pupil-less, acidic green eyes. It was a little smaller than the first one and had, alongside an old scar that was running vertically over one half of it's face, many rips in it's ears that told of old fights. Neither looked very nice.

While Ryou was still staring and Seto seething, the black one futilely tried to temp the bigger, sandy one to give up it's prestigious sleeping place (enthroned right in the very middle of the shreds of Seto's bed, taking up as much space as possible) by jumping onto it and paw it mock-playfully. Obviously in the hope of luring it's ally from the warm nest and claiming it itself. The other ignored it ardently, swiping it with a careless motion from the futon and back on the bare floor where it landed with a very un-feline-like loud crash. Seto twitched.

Ryou gulped at his companion's facial expression. Somebody was going to die soon and extremely painfully. The dominant cat stretched comfortably, digging it's long – very long! – claws into the bed sheets and mattress. At the following ripping sound, Ryou twitched as well.

Next to him Seto growled.

Loud.

The two cats from hell looked up, taking note of the pale boy and his seething companion for the first time. Ryou gulped. All the waves of anger radiating from the brunette were making him wonder if it wouldn't be better if he took hide _behind_ _the cats_. At least he'd be out of Seto's indirect reach then.

Exchanging looks, both cats grinned. Not the usual, stoic cat-grin all creatures of the feline species shared, but two real, thoroughly sardonic smiles. The one on the ground sat up.

"Well, well, well. If that aren't those intruders you mentioned before."

Ryou blinked in sudden surprise. He didn't think one would be able to speak with such teeth. But that wasn't the only unbelievable thing. Where seconds ago a large, pitch-black cat had sat, there was now a sadistically grinning boy. He had black hair as well, long and tied back in a loose braid and a diamond-pattered bandanna. Like his sleeveless vest, it was a bright, blood red. The rest of 'his' outfit consisted out of a set of tight, black leather pants and a sleeveless shirt that was black as well. The green eyes had changed into a more human shape, but retained their maliciousness. Ryou shivered at the look they were giving him.

From the bed, a soft chuckle was heard. Whipping his head around, Ryou already knew what he was going to see. The other cat had become human as well. Though, this one was even odder than the first one, if that was possible. On Seto's bed, in middle of now torn sheets, was a sand-coloured blonde. Snickering, he deliberately took his time stretching, (loudly crackling his knuckles in the movement. The sound alone made Ryou want to jump), before sitting up and grinning brightly at them.

Ryou felt astonished that something that evil could produce something looking that nice and sincere. He didn't let himself be fooled though. In Bllood, one quickly learned that not everything that looked nice, would be nice. This second 'cat' had – aside from his bright-coloured hair – sun-tanned, dark skin and bright lavender eyes with marks under them. They shone with something more than the vampire would have liked to see.

Still grinning at them, the 'cat' stood up, putting a hand nonchalantly onto a ruined bedpost. It seemed that this one and the other cat had decided to play yin and yang with their clothes colouring. Where the first one's was kept in mostly dark, intimidating shades, the sandy-ones were bright, consisting of a light violet vest with a gold chain as his top (sleevless again), a bare midriff and a relaxing shade of yellow for his skin-hugging pants. The only thing they seemed to agree on was the wearing of jewellery. Masses of it.

Watching them with a smirk, the blonde cat-demon spoke.

"You're right, Otogi. It is them."

The black one smirked again. Standing up, he carelessly shifted his position onto the bed (right of where the blonde one sat, Ryou noted.)

"´Told you so, Ishtar." He grinned. "They made the bed _nice_ for us."

´Ishtar´ made a disgusted sound. "I´d rather eat rats than share a bed with you. Anyway," turning his attention back to the two, he smiled apologetically, "Otogi's a bit impolite, I fear. We're here for a reason, you see."

Stepping forward, he extended a (still claw-nailed, Ryou noted) hand towards them. Ryou found it appropriate to slink back at the gesture. He'd seen other cats do the same to their prey before. Noting the vampire's uneasiness, Seto instinctively shoved himself in front of him, blocking the blonde cat-demon's path. Ryou didn't have to see him to know that the brunette was glaring daggers at it. Somehow, he felt grateful for the little protective act, useless as it was. Wrong thought! Ryou slunk a bit more behind the uncanny brunette. The blonde cat grinned.

Drawing his hand back, he said.

"How impolite of me. We didn't even introduce ourselves. _I_," he grinned, "- am Malik Ishtar. And that," he pointed a clawed finger behind him, "- is Otogi Ryuuji. Don´t mind his manners, he doesn't have any."

A muffled 'hey' came from the bed.

Seto nodded.

"Seto Kaiba and Ryou Bakura."

Malik nodded, his lavender eyes gleaming.

"U-huh. So tell me, Seto Kaiba and Ryou Bakura – are you planning on staying this night here at the mansion?"

Seto jerked his head in an indifferent movement.

"Yes and no. We are staying for three nights." Malik's lips twitched into a grin.

"I see."

Sauntering back over to the bed, he gave them a dark look. "But sorrowfully, I can't agree with you on that." He waved his hand. Somewhere from between the muddled sheets came a loud hiss. Malik ignored it. "You must've already guessed why we were sent here. Our job is to kill you." He smirked at them again. "We could – easily. But that's not the point."

Seto turned his head lightly. "But?"

Malik fixed him with his eyes. "I see you understand. Point is that I'm bored."

At that Otogi's head shot up. "Bored? How can you be bored with playing with mortals?"

Malik didn't deem him an answer.

"It's always the same. We come here, make some noise and rip the intruders into tiny pieces when they come to check on what's going on." He sighed. "What I want is a change." Smirking again, he pointed at them. "And that's where you come into this."

Seto's ice-blue eyes narrowed.

"Your point is? You better make it quick, or else I´ll lose interest and leave you two to your foolish game."

Ryou wondered how the taller teen just could be so cold-blooded. Wasn't he scared of these cat-demons at all?

It didn't seem so.

Malik chuckled.

"Let's play a game."

**-Chapter 4…?**


	4. Night One, Part 2: kitten games

Disclaimer: Still the same… 

A/N: Well, another chapter. Actually I planned to delete the story since nobody seems to read it… Thank you, Crimson Nightmare, for your more than nice review! It made me write another chapter…I hope you like this!

_**---------------------------------------------------**_

_…"With all my heart," answered Hans; "but first stretch out your feet, and let me examine your claws." ….._

**_---------------------------------------------------_**

**#4: Night One, Part 2- kitten games# **

Malik chuckled.

"Let's play a game."

Somehow he looked like the infamous cat who eat the canary. Ryou shuddered lightly, his survival instincts telling him loudly to simply jump up and run. But that'd mean to leave Seto to deal with those demonic cats alone. He didn't want to do that.

But those ´cats´ claws looked awfully sharp…

Seto rose an eyebrow. "Which one?" Bracing himself with all his courage that was still left, Ryou stepped forward. Reaching the same level as Seto, he murmured silently. "Seto…? You don't really want to ´play´ with them, do you?" To his shock the tall brunette just shrugged his shoulders. "Why not?" Ryou´s eyes widened in disbelief. "Seto!!"

The enigmatic brunette was ignoring him once again. If the two cats wouldn't have been there, Ryou would have seriously considered kicking Seto or something the like. (But not biting him, though. Loosing one fang within twenty-four hours was enough!)

His attention turned back to the sandy-haired cat-demon, Seto declared. "Fine. If it's a game we know, we will play with you." This time Ryou jumped for real.

"SETO!!!"

Had the brunette gone finally crazy on him?! How could he do that? And dragging him too into it as well! Ryou was completely lost as to what to think. He –really- wished to trust Seto with what he did, but all he seemed to do was getting them deeper and deeper into trouble. The blue-eyed youth shrugged his objections away.

Malik smirked maliciously.

"How about-"

"Dice!! Let's play a dice game!"

The viole(n)t-eyed demon winced in annoyance. "Otogi…" The low growl was completely ignored as the second cat demon decided to untangle himself from the bed's sheets and jumped up. Furiously searching pockets that Ryou could have sworn to not to have fitted into his tight clothing, he finally pulled out a pair of off-white dies with strange symbols carved into their surfaces. Blinking, Ryou realized that they were made out of bones.

The green-eyed demon grinned widely. "Let's play Dungeon Dice Monsters! Just wait till I've found the rest of the dies…" He started frantically searching his pockets again.

Next to him, Malik shook his head with an exasperated sigh. "Leave it, Otogi. Until you've found the damned things the whole night's over anyway. Also I seriously doubt that anybody other than you will ever understand those crazy rules for it…(Me included.)"

"Hey!" The black-haired demon shot him an angry look. Malik coolly ignored it. Shooting Seto a sweet look (which looked decidedly wrong on his face), he asked. "Why don't we play DM?"

Seto nodded. "Sounds fine." Malik grinned. "Duel Monsters it is then." Reaching down into one of his pants pockets, he pulled out a pack of cards. Otogi pouted, but did the same. Ryou frowned. "Duel Monsters?" Looking at Seto, he noticed that the brunette had somehow also produced his own set of playing cards out of a bag. Looking closer he recognized it as the one the brunette had also stashed his ´three secret utensils´ in.

Feeling worried, he edged closer to Seto. "Seto… I don't think that I've already played that game ever before…" Unreadable blue eyes gave him a curious look. "You didn't? I thought it's being played everywhere." Catching a glimpse of the brunettes cards, Ryou felt his mood lighten up again in record speed.

Stretching his hand out, he carefully touched one of the cards. It was the ´pot of greed´. Ryou recognized that card. "Wait… I _do_ know the game. Just that it's called ´Magic and Wizards´ where I come from!" Hastily searching through his things, Ryou pulled out his own, self-constructed deck. It was an occult one, with lots of traps and magic cards as well as some monsters with some nice side effects. He was rather proud of his deck.

Turning to Seto, he smiled lightly. "My deck's focused on occult cards. Yours?" For a split second, Seto returned the smile. "Powerful monsters. Mainly dragons." Ryou nodded. "Aa." Suddenly he felt more comfortable with the situation again. The white-haired boy was a decent player of the game and from what he could make from the others behaviour, Seto was quite versed in it as well.

"Are done yet?"

They both flinched at the drawled question. Although only Ryou could see that Seto did as well, since he was standing close.

Otogi was watching them with a bored grin. Seto shot the cat-demon a scorching glare. Next to them, Malik snickered.

"Don't you have any sensitiveness at all? Leave the happy couple to their love talk." He smirked maliciously. Taking his stance for duelling, he said. "It'll be their last anyway.

Ready?!"

Seto shot him a cold glare. Taking his own stand for the duel, he motioned for Ryou to do the same. On the other side of the room, Otogi quickly took his place next to Malik. Ryou frowned at them. If those demons though they had the right to bloody murder them, alright. But if they thought that that also gave them the right to make fun of them – then they were hellish-damn wrong!

"Ready."

"Let's duel!!"

The duel had went on for some time and it wasn't looking too good for Ryou and Seto.

Seto had currently a monster and a face-down trap card on the field while Ryou had nothing but his electric lizard in a face-down defence mode. Otogi had succeed in summoning some type of ninja-like monster which special abilities were giving the white-haired vampire quite a little difficulties, alongside with another two face down cards. Malik had his revival jam defence activated and was obviously preparing for summoning something bigger.

Ryou sighed silently to himself.

All this and Seto still didn't seem to be especially fazed by it. Ryou was absolutely sure that the blue-eyed teen had something on his mind. Some plan that would turn the tables and help them stay victorious against those devious cats. But what? What was the brunette waiting for?

Was it something Ryou had to do?

Halfway about to voice his question, Ryou shot the brunette a pleading look. Do something, goddamnit! But the brunette just retorted with an amused glance in his direction before playing another card face down and ending his turn. Otogi played another monster and attacked Ryou´s face-down card.

Ryou grinned lightly as the dark chest-devil was paralysed, leaving a wide gaping break in the dark-haired demons defence. Then it was Malik´s turn.

While the blonde-haired cat-demon made his move Ryou used the opportunity to gently nudge Seto with his foot. Seto rose an eyebrow and gave him a questioning look. Ryou answered it with a pleading one. An amused second eyebrow joined the first. Resisting the urge to start yelling loudly at the other that this was no stupid game but dead serious, Ryou sighed silently to himself. He repeated his former action with a little more force.

This time Seto didn't look that amused anymore.

Lifting his foot with the clear intention to kick the brunette with full force the next time, Ryou shot him a warning glare. He knew that it would have made a lot more impression with his both fangs bared, but thanks to Seto that manoeuvre was impossible now.

One and a half fang looked more silly than intimidating.

Getting the ´subtle´ hint Seto quickly reacted with a jerked nod, giving the young vamp no chance to make his treat come true. Remembering what the other had done to his fang Ryou considered kicking him anyway.

Unfortunately Malik choose just that moment to announce that he was done and it was again at Seto to make his move. Ryou just hoped it would be the right one.

The ice-eyed teen made a show out of drawing another card, looking through his cards, at Ryou, Otogi and Malik and then his cards again. With a long-suffering sigh, he laid them face down down.

Ryou gave him a shocked look. _That_ was what the brunette had planned the whole time?! Forfeith?! Before the young vampire could get out a word, the both cats started snickering. Malik sneered.

"Giving up so soon?"

Seto returned his look coolly. "Not at all. But I can't tolerate you two ruining this game by cheating like that anymore."

"Cheating?!" The two changed cats jumped up. Obviously Seto had managed to hit them in their pride. "There's nobody cheating here!"

Seto met their anger with a look that could have had frozen over hell. "You are cheating."

"NANDA?! You lousy-!!"

For a moment it looked like Otogi was going to ram his (having suddenly grown amazingly long) claw-finger nails right into Seto´s neck. The brunette still didn't budge.

"You're cheating and I can prove it. Irrevocably."

Ryou watched worriedly as Otogi sneered, letting out a low, cat-like hiss at the infuriating teen. Half preparing to jump to Seto´s aid should the black-haired one decide to jump, the pale-haired vampire watched with not a uncertain amount of relief as the blonde cat-demon stretched his hand out, blocking the seething Otogi´s way effectively. Giving him a level look that told the other feline to keep his temper, Malik slowly stepped forward until he was mere inches away from Seto.

Resting his hands on his hips, he rose a slim eyebrow, giving Seto a half-amused and half-provocating look.

"So you're thinking we're cheating, huh?"

Seto´s icy glare met Malik´s lavender one easily. "I do."

Malik smirked, obviously amused by the brunettes behaviour. "You have guts, I have to admit." He shrugged lightly. "However, you're also unfortunately delusional. We're not cheating, and _I_ can prove that as well."

If his acting was supposed to affect the taller teen in any way, then Seto either didn´t react to it or he didn't show it. All the while, Ryou watched the two closely. Until now things seemed pretty damn bad, but not as bad as they could still possibly get. It was close thought, and whatever the brunette was up to, Ryou sincerely hoped it worked like planned.

If not, then Ryou would happily tear out the brunettes neck given that the two cat-demons would leave him the time for that before killing them both.

The staring matched between cobalt blue and shining violet continued. In the end, a small grin formed on Seto´s lips, spreading quickly into a smirk.

"You're quite full of yourself, Ishtar."

Malik grinned nonchalantly. Somehow it didn't seem to be quite on the sane side. "At least I'm in good company with it."

Seto returned the grin. "As am I."

For a moment, silence reigned.

Then, Malik twitched and began stretching his hands in an all too catlike fashion. Ryou felt his eyes widen slightly as he could practically watch the cat-demon´s finger nails transform themselves back into sharp claws.

"So… We're quite in a dilemma here, aren't we?" Malik had finished his stretching and was watching Seto closely again. Waiting for any sign of weakness.

Ryou´s gaze quickly travelled over to where Otogi was. Like him, the other green-eyed cat-demon was silently watching the scene, being more of a uninvolved spectator than an actual part of the conflict taking place.

Realising this, Ryou sighed silently to himself. Seto and Malik were rather alike, from their unnatural quality of their eye colour till the air of ´I'm God, you're nothing´ they both seemed to radiate. Somehow, he wished to be a little more like them.

After what seemed to be a little eternity, Seto shrugged his shoulders.

The blonde feline took it as a sign to continue. "You have prove, you say? I'd like to see that." Hearing that, Seto looked down at him and for a splinter of a moment, Ryou was sure to see derisive laughter in his arctic eyes. His heart sped involuntary up beating.

Weightening the slightly smaller cat-demon with a uncaring look, Seto shook his head with a (utterly played) silent sigh. "As you wish.

To prove that you cheat, I will need something from my luggage." Seeing the both cats thoughtful expressions, the brunette smirked. "Don't worry, it's no weapon, nor will I try to flee. Just something that will help me to prove your cheap ways of winning for sure." He gave Malik an amused glare. "Do you agree?"

Unconsciously, Ryou felt a small grin form on his pale lips. He knew that expression! It meant that things were exactly going just the way Seto wanted them too. The cold brunette had been wearing the same expression when he'd decided to make the vampire his travel-companion and now he was doing it again. Suddenly, Ryou felt bad for ever doubting the others capacities. Seto was something special for sure and those cats would get their nasty surprise for trying to mess with him.

Ryou just wished he'd know how he was supposed to fit into that plan.

Malik shrugged his shoulders carelessly. "Sure, why not." Then a malicious sparkle entered his eyes. "But I think we deserve a little making up when it turns out that you've accused us for nothing."

Seto´s face remained emotionless.

"Like?"

Malik smirked again, stepping closer until just a few inches separated their bodies. Running a sharp-clawed hand over the blue-eyed youth's jaw line, he purred.

"Miou, miou; how could it is! You'll have to warm me up a little."

The leer that was accompanying this words, spoke volumes. From somewhere off to the side, Ryou could hear Otogi huff, mumbling something about ´perverted hentai´ and always getting horny during their jobs.

"- Otogi can have the snowy-hair."

Ryou´s eyebrows shot up at that. What?!?! Like hell that black cat was going to have any of him without a fight! Glancing over to the second feline, he saw Otogi wearing a (thank god!) similar expression. Had their partners gone crazy?!

Seto nodded just coolly at Malik, before turning to fetch whatever he was planning to get. Passing by Ryou, he swiftly placed a calming hand on the shaken vampire boy's shoulder murmuring a silent ´Keep an eye on the second one´ before passing him by. Staring dumfoundedly after the strange human, Ryou could barely muster to nod.

"The first part of my evidences I have here…-"

Gesturing for Malik to come closer and watch, Seto rumored shortly through his bag of ´special preparations´ before swiftly pulling out something shiny that got hidden between his long fingers before anyone could identify it closer. Ryou felt himself tense up lightly, recognising the shiny metal to belong to the handcuffs anyway.

Behind Seto, Malik´s expression changed from arrogant to suspicious (and a little bit confused.) He didn't trust Seto, that was for sure, but he also didn't want to let the outrageous accusation of them cheating go left unpunished. The white-haired second youth seemed to have something to do with the unnerving brunettes plans. He gave Otogi a silent wink to keep a watchful eye on him. Green eye blinked surprised, but the black-haired cat-demon obeyed without any further questioning.

The vampire twitched lightly, not liking the new attention. Yet Seto still stayed unperturbed.

"-and the second half is over there at the bed you two so nicely ruined."

Malik grinned at the added note, but complied following the brunette over to the bed. Bowing forward, Seto gestured to the massive wooden headboard. Pointing a finger to one of the many ornates on it, he said. "It's right here." The sandy feline spectre rose a slim eyebrow. Leaning closer in, he frowned. "I can't see anything."

Seto drew back, giving Malik a disbelieving look. "You don´t? Any there I thought cats were supposed to have such good eyes-" Something near the blonde cat-demon´s eyes twitched. "We do. But there's nothing."

Seto shook his head.

"Of course there is. Can't you see it? It's right there next to my finger."

Malik´s violet eyes narrowed in annoyance. Leaning further, he took another look.

"Nothing."

Seto returned his look with a equal glare.

"There is and you better don't play intentional dumb on me because-" Malik broke him off with an angry snarl. Ryou watched with morbid fascination how gleaming white teeth transformed into large white fangs.

"There's nothing! And if I say there's nothing then there –_is-_ nothing!!"

Seto shook his head, pushing the aggravated feline demon onto the bed.

"There is and if you'd use your damned cat eyes like they're supposed to just once then you'd see it too!!"

Malik snarled, but obeying leaned in closer to the pointed out spot on the headboard.

"Where's there anything?! There's nothing but-!!"

The sentence was cut off by a surprised angry shriek as Seto rammed into him, his supreme height and weight pushing the blonde effectively flat into the mattress. Before Malik even had a chance to react Seto had already pulled the handcuffs over his wrists and had chained him to the bedpost and headboard.

"-!!"

"Malik!"

Straddling the fuming blonde from behind and barely avoiding his sharp claws Seto shouted. "Ryou, I'm counting on you!"

That was all it needed. Having jumped up at the same moment as Otogi, Ryou jumped the same moment Otogi tried to attack. Catching the charging cat-demon right in the movement, the vampire quickly jumped onto his back, dragging an arm around his neck in a practiced stranglehold while his still intact fang pressed lightly against the smooth skin.

Otogi froze immediately.

Ryou grinned silently to himself. Still keeping his hold on the shocked feline, he listened to Otogi´s rapidly increasing breathing and the pulsating heartbeat. That was more that way it should be going.

"You- you…Vampire?"

The sudden fear and not inconsiderable amount of surprise in Otogi´s voice was like an aphonic to Ryou, sending him on a adrenaline induced power trip that always accompanied his hunts. Grinning against the exposed skin, his fine senses easily picking up the exact location of the main ateria. It would be too easy now.

"Mmm… and if I were?"

His question was asked in a low humming purr, the vampires breath tickling the sensitive skin.

Over at the bed Seto watched them calmly. He couldn't help a light grin as he watched Ryou´s brown doe eyes going sharp and winning a malicious twinge of red colour into them. At the same time, the black-haired demon's acidic green eyes were growing wider every second.

"Otogi?! Where the fuck are you staying!! Get him off of me!!!"

Almost lazily the brunette evaded another swipe of sharp-clawed fingers. Under him, Malik shrieked in anger. Fighting furiously against his binding and the brunette on his back, the blonde still couldn't do anything.

"Otogi!! How long can dealing with such a white phussy take you?! Hurry up lazyass!!"

Quirking a slender eyebrow at the rapid loss of control, Seto directed a questioning glance over to Ryou. Behind Otogi´s back, Ryou grinned back at him. It was visible that the vampire was having his fun with the new situation. Seto couldn't help but silently chide the caught green-eyed cat for being so careless. Showing signs of fear only aggravated hunters more.

"M-Malik… he's a-a-"

Ryou nipped playful on his neck, nuzzling his single fang closer to the vein.

"-vampire!!"

The last word was a strangled shriek. Under him, Malik froze. "A what?" Obviously none of the cat demons had taken themselves the time to pay his little, white-haired companion a little more close attention.

Seto grinned to himself. Leaning closer down, he whispered into Malik´s ear.

"Ryou´s a vampire, Malik-chan. Did our surprise work?"

The only answer he got was a pissed off hiss. VERY cat-like now. Remembering the fact that his captive could turn into a giant **very angry** cat any minute, Seto carefully shifted stances. Under him Malik bucked wildly, full-forcedly tugging against his restrainments.

"Let me go!! Fuck you to hell, bastard!!!"

Seto rose a slender eyebrow at the outburst. Malik wasn't done however.

"Asshole!! You cheating, little-!!"

The shout were abruptly cut short as Seto decided to use the chance and quickly straddled the cat-demon's waist, effectively pushing down his feet with his own while his hands firmly pressed the fuming blonde's shoulders against the mattress. Ryou rose a eyebrow at this. The scene and easiness the brunette had performed the action with could be taken as tell-tale signs that it wasn't the first time he'd done something like that.

In his grip, Otogi twitched lightly. Snapping out of his daze, Ryou quickly returned to pressing his uninjured fang against the cat's skin, silently hoping that the other supernatural creature wouldn't noticed his shortly-acquired disadvantage. A vampire with just one fang was a hellish lot less impressing than one who still had two.

Next to them Malik had recovered from taking a bite out of the sheets. Sneering angrily, he turned his head and glared at the comfortably seated brunette as good as he could.

"You'll pay for that!"

"Pay? I wouldn't see why." Seto gave him an amused look. "After all it were you who was cheating here first." Malik hissed angrily, jerking harder on his handcuffs. "And how- Pray tell- Are we supposed to have cheated?!"

Seto´s melodic chuckle made Ryou´s blood curl and the vampire quiver, unintentionally drawing a little blood from Otogi´s neck.

"You marked the cards. Each card you put your hands on, you marked with your claws." Seto added a little pressure on the blond cat's back, leaning in closer. "-Did you really think we wouldn't notice?"

Behind them, almost unnoticed, Ryou tried his best to look as if he'd always known that fact also, instead of gawking wide-eyed. **That** was something he'd never thought off. When he'd looked at their hands, he'd always just seen how insanely long their claws were.

Under Seto, Malik had tensed up momentarily. When he relaxed, his struggling had ceased completely.

"…So you noticed."

Seto smirked. "Of course. That's what your little game was about, wasn't it? Not about a duel. It was about whether we'd notice your manipulations or not."

Now lying relaxed completely, Malik chuckled silently.

"You two are really far more interesting than you let on." Still smirking he twisted so that he could watch the brunette better.

"One point for you. You two passed the trial of the first night."

He gave a light tug on the handcuffs. Scowling at the silent remaining brunette and the vampire, he asked. "Happy now? Our job's over, we're done. Can we go now?" He tugged again on the cuffs, this time with a little more force. "Let me free, damn it!"

Exchanging looks with Ryou, Seto smirked slightly. "Let you go just like that? After all you've done? I don't think so." He pulled out a small, but obviously high-quality knife.

Malik´s eyes widened at the sight.

"What are going to do?"

Seto smirked maliciously down at him.

"Make sure that you're never going to cheat again."

**- Chapter 5…?**


End file.
